Pieces:
- W.A. Mozart, String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590
- Dmitri Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp major, Opus 108
Venue: Engelman Recital Hall, Baruch Preforming Arts Center, Manhattan, NY
Performers: Alexander String Quartet; Zakarias Grafilo, first violin; Fredrick Lifsitz, second violin; Pauly Yarbrough, viola; Sandy Wilson, cello
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yJ6tkNcRn4Y
W.A. Mozart’s String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K 590 is one of three quartets that he composed under the commission of Frederick William II of Prussia. It was the last one of the three and was composed in June 1790. “This was a time of bitter care and poverty, which made it a painful effort to work at the quartets, but there is even less trace of effort in them than in the earlier ones (Jahn 16).”
Mozart brings the violoncello to the front since this is the instrument that his patron plays. This forces the viola to take the bass part and sets all of the instruments higher than usual. The first violin also alternates a lot with the violoncello. I will look for this when I listen to this piece live as I believe that this will affect how this will sound. This will make it unusual as compared to other quartets since the viola will take the bass part instead of the cello, and the cello will be emphasized.
Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp major, Opus 108 was written in 1960. “An interesting point is that both the first and last movements are divided into two halves, duple and triple. Where the first movement’s motif has a falling line, the finale’s rises, but the switch to triple time half way through is the same in both movements. Another factor shared by these outer movements is their fluency of line, taking in its stride the various rhythmic irregularities that are used (Kay 53).” This seems unusual compared to other quartets and I will listen for this at the quartet.
I’m looking forward to the quartet as I heard nothing but great things about The Alexander String Quartet.
Jahn, Otto. Life of Mozart. New York: Cooper Square Publishers, Inc., 1970. Print.
Kay, Norman. Shostakovich. London: Oxford University Press, 1971. Print.